Monday, March 19, 2012

white slipcover

I mentioned last week that I had been working on a slipcover for my chair. If you need help with cushion covers (which are often the hardest part and are the most noticeable) I have a tutorial here that I posted when I did recovered the chair the last time.

It took me several days to complete, mostly because I didn't really have a plan and I also have a two-year-old who watched way too much TV while his mother neglected him (and all my other chores) for about a week. Like I said, I didn't follow a tutorial or a pattern so I basically just took pieces of scrap fabric that I had lying around and laid them on top of the chair in pieces. Then I cut each piece to fit (leaving lots of extra room for tucking and a seam allowance) and laid them wrong side up and pinned the pieces together. Once they were pinned, I basted all the pieces together and then turned it right side out and tried it on. It looked really ugly with all my mismatched scrap fabrics but I knew it was going to be all right. This may have been an extra step but I didn't want to risk wasting any fabric by cutting it wrong.

Once I was sure that the pieces would work, I marked each part and then laid it on top of my white fabric and cut it out, making sure to fold the scrap fabric pattern with the real piece so I knew which piece was which. Then I pinned it onto the chair again (wrong side up) and basted it again. I sewed it all together and tried it on. It looked pretty good and I was feeling more confident. Yay! Note: I only included piping on the cushions and around the arm fronts and the top edge of the skirt.

Then, I started on the skirt. I basically just measured each side of the chair as well as the length I wanted the skirt to be (leaving room for the piping and a seam allowance) and cut out four pieces to go all the way around. Then I cut small squares to go behind each piece where they meet so you wouldn't be able to see the legs. I sewed on the piping and then all the pieces together. Then I turned the slipcover inside out again and pinned on the skirt and sewed it together. Then I was done!

Here's the deal. Slipcovers are harder than upholstering but since this was going in my nursery and I was doing it in white I knew I wanted to be able to wash it. I don't claim that making slipcovers is easy (I cried many times) but it's certainly not all that difficult if you have some basic sewing skills (and access to YouTube). It was a good experience for me and saved me several hundred dollars so I'm happy!

P.S. The nursery is essentially done but I have a few finishing touches I'd like to make before sharing the pictures. I will soon!

Oh my goodness, I’m going to die! This is all too cute!!! Quit torturing us already, I want to see pics of the whole room!! I’m kind of ecstatic to see that my painting will coordinate so well! Woot woot!

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